Red line: A heavy burden on our economy

During colonial times in Africa, red lines typically referred to the arbitrary boundaries and divisions imposed by European colonial powers without regard for existing ethnic, cultural or geographical realities. These colonial borders often disregarded the natural or historical boundaries of various African societies and were drawn primarily to serve the interests of the colonial powers.

In Namibia, the inherited red line (inherited by the Namibian government) is the biggest threat to our local and international trade as well as to our agricultural sector. The red line, which isolates the southern part of Namibia, was a result of the Berlin Conference, which was held in 1884 in Berlin, Germany, and it restricted the movement of trading in our country due to the so-called "health risks" of products from the northern, eastern, and western parts of Namibia.

The Namibian people are made to believe that no other part of the country can export agricultural products to the rest of Namibia due to the fact that our agricultural products, including meat, are contaminated and unfit for human consumption, which is not true!

Staying in place at all costs

The red line is just a tool designed by the white minorities in Namibia who are trying to suppress the black majority and dominate the market in Namibia and the rest of the world.

Currently, one will not be permitted to export meat, wild spinach, Okavango lemons, mangoes, and other agricultural products from either the northern or eastern part of the country to either Walvis Bay or Otjinene for consumption because the stationed agriculture officials at Oshivelo will confiscate these products not because they are unfit for consumption, as they are saying, but because of how the system was designed to protect white supremacy in Namibia.

Additionally, we have clever black individuals who, whether in government or white-owned companies, serve as tools of supremacy to fight fellow black individuals.

These individuals are opposed to the removal of the red line and are willing to sell the country to the whites by defending the red line at all costs. If we look at how the agricultural sector is performing in Namibia, one might think that we have infertile land because it is contributing less than 29% to our GDP, while we can do better than that.

Inspire growth

Our agriculture sector can contribute up to 60% if the red line is removed because we will boost our local trade and produce our own food instead of waiting for a certain Van Wyk with a farm between Otavi and Otjiwarongo to produce potatoes and sell them to us. The removal of the red line will also lead to a reduction in inflation in Namibia because food production will increase and everyone will be motivated to be a farmer.

Currently, people in the northern part of Namibia who own large fertile land are sitting relaxed, waiting for the rain, with hopes of producing omahangu, beans, and nuts. However, if our people see the need to export omahangu to the rest of the country, they will begin producing more of these products and supplying them to the rest of the country and the entire SADC region, which will contribute to our country's GDP.

We are made to believe that our meat and all agricultural products from outside the red line are contaminated and unfit for consumption.

But if we are to analyse this, one wonders why the government is doing nothing to ensure that inhabitants from the northern part of Namibia are protected from the so-called contaminated meat. Is the government abandoning those outside the red line and letting them eat contaminated products, or what is happening?

Our generation from the 2000s needs answers from the government regarding why it is misleading us and why it is tolerating a divided country! The red line must go. We want to revive and strengthen our agricultural sector! It should go today, not tomorrow, not next year!

*Namundjebo Allexer is a third-year bachelor of English and linguistics student at NUST.